One of our favorite topics at Datz is CHEAT FOODS! And one of our favorite people to talk cheat foods with is Caitlyn Connolly of Live.Sweat.Sleep.Repeat. and the popular hashtag, #TampaLove. Caitlyn is a Tampa native with a love for fitness, discovering Tampa, a good cup of coffee and being a kid at Disney. Recently, Caitlyn asked foodies what their favorite cheat foods were here are some of their tastiest answers. Enjoy!
The Cheat Meal Haven by Caitlyn Connolly
The coveted cheat meal. Everyone loves a good cheat meal. Even those crazy fitness people [I say with love], because I’m one of them!
Pushing thoughts of a juicy burger aside, I got to thinking — why do we cheat and, what do we cheat with? Thanks to some lovely peeps that indulged in my survey, let the cheating begin!
Kelsey (@kbahr), this has your name written all over it!
Why do we cheat…and love it?
We crave it. I don’t know about you, but once a craving enters my brain — it will.not.leave! Plus, I have always been a believer of moderation —> not deprivation. You gotta treat yoself!
We tweet it. For reals. Follow any fitness guru/lover/friend on social media and you will find food in their feed!
We put in extra work for it. This is the most honest reason. No joke, when I was marathon training, that post long run meal was exulted! Loved! Cherished! And oh-so-tasty! I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t take an extra class a week, ran an extra mile, or did a few more downward dogs for that succulent meal in my near future.
Post it up on Instgram. Does this need an explanation!? IG was made for pictures. And we love taking pictures of our food, and sharing it, of course!
We dream about it. Shhh, this will be our little secret that I may dream about cheat meals.
We plan for it. Not only do we plan our workouts during the week, we plan the epic cheat meal at weeks end. It is placed lovingly on the calendar, maybe even with a cute little cheeseburger sticker.
As a visitor of Datz for years, it has become thee place for my ultimate cheat; whether it be salty or sweet dishes, to light fare and those indulgences that make us wear our super-stretchy pants, it’s the place. Here’s more reasons why you should follow my lead down MacDill Avenue.
Speaking for myself and others, we cannot seem to make up our mind when it comes to a cheat meal! We want both, dammit! Over half of those surveyed wanted salty AND sweet; the other 30% was evenly split between the two.
My local running friend Nadine (@nkaprice) wouldn’t mind sharing these Datchos with me!
Salty dishes are the way to my heart and I know some of you agree! Shaking more salt on my survey, most of you would dive head first into carbs, followed by a Mexican dish or chips & salsa, then some good ole meat or a juicy burger. Now that my mouth is watering and I’m fully distracted, during my most recent visit to Datz, I indulged in the Marinated Skirt Steak Tacos with an Eberson’s Old Fashioned (topped with bacon, yes please!) — needless to say, I earned the clean plate award.
Alas, some cheats were not mentioned, but Datz has them covered! I cannot believe that I failed to mention Mac & Cheese! Their Mac Bites and The Cheesy Todd are fan favorites (and Jackie’s too (@seejackierunn)) and scream cheat meal.
Enough with the Sodium Chloride, let’s sugar coat errrrrything! Of course chocolate was atop the list, followed by cupcakes, then the vagueness of ‘other’. However, ‘other’ was quickly defined with: kid’s cereal, donuts, & peanut butter.
This covers errrrrything, right??
Just a few steps away sits Dough, a delightful bakery full of coffee, donut, gelato & dessert goodness. You are really missing out if you have not paid them a visit! But please welcome to the stage, the Fruity Pebbles Doughnut, Kit Kat Doughnut & original Chocolate Doughnuts.
I may have witnessed Alexandra, (@realtikitiki) local Mantra instructor, break it down on the megaformer for one of these!
Did we cover your cheat? Did we make you hungry yet? Are you gonna race me to Datz now?
